


The World Is at Our Feet

by LindsayIsTheCraic



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Soccer, but you should be fine if you havent read it !, delinquents are teens, in honor of the women's world cup, kabby focused, kicking and screaming au, recommended that you read kickin' & screamin' before this for a full background, set in the k&s universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 05:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19739512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LindsayIsTheCraic/pseuds/LindsayIsTheCraic
Summary: Another summer, another season of soccer. With Cage and Mount Weather no longer a part of Arkadia's soccer league, Coach Griffin had assumed all her problems with the Delinquents were left in the past.Oh, how she was wrong.Coach Kane insists on keeping his "pennies" while simultaneously hiding something up his sleeve—two things Coach Griffin cannot stand. In return, Coach Griffin offers a new game for practice in honor of the Women's World Cup. Knowing what she is up to, Coach Kane decides to play along, having his own game in mind.Who will ultimately come out on top? Who will reign as world champions? You can be aware, you can have the best partner, but you can only succeed with control of the ball. Because if you have that, then you have the world at your feet.





	The World Is at Our Feet

**Author's Note:**

> Curious to see how our delinquents turned out two years after defeating Mount Weather?  
> Curious to know where Kabby's relationship has gone since we left them on the porch at the end-of-the-season party?  
> Curious to know what happened to Cage and the other parents?
> 
> THEN READ ON MY DUDES, CAUSE IT'S K&S MONDAY !!!!!!

“We’ve been coaching together for two years now, and you still can’t afford real pennies?”

Marcus reached over and snatched his penny bag from Abby. He told her, “Maybe if you hadn’t bleach stained our jerseys, we would still have enough money left in our budget to buy them.”

Abby rightfully ignored that as she crossed her arms, looking out over the soccer complex. It wasn’t her fault Octavia got bolder over the two years since her and Marcus had officially started dating. And by bolder, Abby meant that Octavia loved to play pranks on her after they moved in together. Last year, half way through the season, Octavia thought it would be hilarious to switch the contents of bleach and detergent.

Let’s just say the Delinquents were unofficially the Dalmatians for their game the next day.

“Great day for soccer, isn’t it?”

Abby cringed, the words still tainted from the man they used to come from every game weekend. Turning around, she saw Jaha walking up with his kids, Murphy and Wells. Even though Jaha had a lightbulb moment two years ago in the finals against Mount Weather, he was still an ignorant asshole most of the time.

With a tight-lipped smile, she answered, “Every day is a great day for soccer, Jaha.”

“It sure is, Abby,” Jaha responded as he made his way over to his usual spot on the sideline. He passed Marcus on the way, who was setting up cones for possession. Jaha said to him, “Good afternoon, Coach.”

Yup. Ignorant asshole.

“He didn’t!”

Abby’s attention turned to behind her as she saw Cece and Roan walking up together. Roan shrugged and said, “That’s what I overheard at the season-opener party the other night.”

“I guess he has no pride left.”

“Did he ever have any?”

Abby watched the two laugh as they sat beside Jackson, David Miller, and Sinclair. The team dads were busy getting their coolers situated for easy access for the adults during practice and for the kids when practice was over. Instead of Cece and Roan sitting on either side of the trio like they did the first year Abby and Marcus coached together, they sat next to each other, closer to the kids’ bench. Over last year’s season, the two had really perfected their partnership in attacking Alie and the other teams’ parents instead of being at each other’s throats.

The team’s mascot of a delinquent truly came full circle being represented by the kids, the coaches, and the parents.

“Did you hear the latest?”

Abby turned around again, to face the field this time. Indra stood there, coach’s bag over her shoulder as the three Grounders that helped the Delinquents out two years ago stood behind her. She raised an eyebrow at her rival, asking, “Does it have to do with what those two are gossiping about?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t hear it at the season-opener party,” Indra replied. “That’s all anyone would talk about.”

Abby shook her head, saying, “I was too busy reveling in the fact that I actually won a game at the beginning of the season. I may have snuck in actual alcohol too, so my memory is a little spotty.”

Indra chuckled and set her bag down by her feet as the three Grounders made their way over to their old Delinquent teammates. Leaning over, Indra told her, “Cage apparently showed up at Pike’s office and practically begged to be let back in the league.”

Well _shit_. Abby was not expecting that, not at all. Instantly, a grin found its way on her face. Knowing Indra had more news, she asked, “And why would he ever do that?”

Indra chuckled at the mocking tone in Abby’s words. She told her, “Apparently they finished last in their league, and they got clobbered by the top three teams—Lifesavers-defeat bad.” Smooth one. “They didn’t advance to the playoffs at the end of the year either.”

Abby couldn’t help herself, her grin grew with every word. Karma was a real bitch, wasn’t it? Laughing more to herself, she shook her head and said, “Serves him right. He’s just lucky I never hit him with my car as he exited Pike’s office after dropping off his resignation papers.”

Indra laughed and mentioned, “I mean, it makes him attending the championship game last year sensible.”

Abby’s mind went back to the championship game last season. It had been the Delinquents trying to defend their title against the Grounders. Halfway through the first half, she had spotted an ugly, white suit that she recognized all too well across the field. Cage had been propped up against the same tree he always leaned on when he used to watch her games.

He made no move to smirk like he used to or make snide remarks about the mistakes her team made; he never made eye contact with her. Throughout the whole championship game, he watched the game with a blank expression. When the final whistle was blown and the Delinquents lifted their trophy once again, reclaiming their title as champions, Cage was nowhere in sight.

Abby had speculated the scene for a short minute, confusion consuming her, but it was soon forgotten as Marcus dumped their water jug’s contents on her. Her sole focus then was tackling the man she loved and holding him down long enough for the kids to dump their water on him.

Abby shrugged, looking over to where Marcus was talking with Raven and Octavia about the pennies. What he didn’t see was Bellamy slowly dribbling up from behind him, the two girls acting as distractors. The kids had made it their goal to nutmeg their coaches as much as they could since Marcus was always harping on them about awareness on the field. In other words, they wanted to make Abby’s life a living hell in another form that wasn’t losing every game.

At the last possible moment, Marcus spun around, scaring the shit out of Bellamy. Marcus reached out with his foot and kicked Bellamy’s ball away. The two girls groaned in annoyance, falsely convinced that their diversion was going to work that time. Marcus smirked and told them as he turned back to them, “You’re going to have to do better than that if you ever—”

At that moment, a ball slowly traveled in between in his legs from behind as he was turning to face the two girls again. The four of them watched the ball in shock and then looked to where the ball had come from. Lincoln stood there, smiling innocently. He told Marcus, “Awareness.”

The three kids laughed and Octavia ran over and hugged Lincoln as Marcus shook his head in defeat. Abby smiled, her heart filling at the scene in front of her. She turned back to Indra, remembering what their conversation was about. Cage had ruined their season for years, she wasn’t going to let him continue to do so when he wasn’t in the league anymore. Abby said, “Maybe he was trying to learn a thing or two from a last-place team that stormed up the standings and defeated the reigning champs.”

“After he found out he couldn’t manipulate the league like he did with ours,” Indra replied.

“I don’t know,” Abby said, “I hear the politics in the premiere league are up to his level. He just has to figure out the right way to manipulate them like he did with us.”

Indra laughed as Abby opened her penny bag. Abby wasn’t sure why Marcus bothered bringing his penny bag to practice when he knew she never lets the kids use them. He hadn’t brought it since their second practice last year after Abby had trouble getting Murphy out of a torn hole in one that he thought was for his head. After a five minute struggle, she finally just ripped it apart and told Marcus if she ever saw the bag at their practices again she would strangle him with them.

As she started to pull some out, she looked to the Delinquents at practice today. Since they were now at the U14 level, they had officially moved on from 8v8 to 11v11 last year. Due to the bigger field and number growth along with the loss of the three Grounders kids leaving to rejoin their original team, the Delinquents had to add some new members to their roster.

Counting the number of the Delinquents, Abby noted they only had the original ten Delinquents at practice today. A few of the new players were on vacation, one was sick, and the newest addition this year, Hope, was surprised by her mother, Diyoza, last practice as she came home from serving overseas in the military. The two were spending quality time together before Diyoza had to fly back for duty.

Frowning, Abby noted her game plan for the practice wasn’t going to work as their numbers would be uneven since Wells would be in goal.

“He got you Bellamy! Get down!”

“No! My foot was in the air, it doesn’t count!”

Abby’s attention turned towards the two who were fighting to see non-other than her daughter and Bellamy having a stare off. He crossed his arms over his chest and Clarke mirrored the action. As the two designated captains for the Delinquents, the two loved to try and over power the other when it came to small things liked deciding if a nutmeg was actually a nutmeg or not. Abby wonders who they got that from, certainly not her and Marcus.

Raven butted into their argument, pointing out, “I said the same thing last week when you nutmegged me, and you told me it still counted. Do your pushup!”

“You were walking,” Bellamy fired back, “so it was a natural position. My foot was resting on the ball!”

“All I hear are excuses for not being aware,” Clarke teased, earning a chuckle from Raven and Lincoln, the one who had nutmegged him.

Bellamy opened his mouth to retort but he didn’t get the chance as both captains watched in horror as a ball zipped through both their open legs. The two watched it roll on before it hit Jaha’s chair. He looked up from his phone, seeing the ball, and immediately looked for Murphy. His son raised his arms innocently, saying, “It wasn’t me.”

“Now you have two pushups, Bell.”

All the kids plus the two coaches looked to the middle of the field to see Marcus standing there, a smile on his face as he rocked another ball back and forth under his foot. His smile grew as the two captains groaned and dropped to the ground to do their respective pushups in correlation to the number of nutmegs they fell victim to. As they finished up and began to stand up, Marcus was walking over. He plopped his hand on Bellamy’s head and shuffled his hair about, telling him, “Awareness.”

Bellamy shoved his father’s hand off his head and frantically worked at his hair to tame it again. Marcus laughed and turned to the two coaches, grinning bigger when he saw Indra. As he came over, he shook her hand and said, “Nice to see you, Coach.”

“You as well,” she replied.

Marcus looked to Abby then, asking, “Do you have the pennies for possession?”

“ _Real_ pennies?” Abby held them out for him. “Yes, and while we’re on the topic, did you forget what I told you would happen if you brought your ‘penny’ bag to practice again?”

Marcus snatched the pennies from her, throwing them at the kids randomly. He smiled innocently and said, “I’m not sure how it ended up in the car.”

“Mhmm,” Abby responded, crossing her arms. She began to tap her foot on the ground when a great idea flashed into her mind. Oh, Abby could totally use this to her advantage. Smiling, she added, “Since I’m feeling merciful, and the fact that there would a witness, I would like to change my threat to a proposition.”

As Marcus finished passing the pennies out, he got the small game of possession started. He looked back to Abby and said, “I’m listening,” before looking to back to the grid and chastising Jasper for taking away Monty’s space.

Abby’s grin grew bigger, and Indra recognized it before any words left her mouth. She gave her a warning look before shaking her head. Abby put her hands behind her back and rocked back on her heels, saying, “I want to add another game into practice.”

Not expecting that, Marcus’ head turned from possession to her. Surprise was etched on his face as he asked, “ _Another_ game?”

What an ass. Abby’s smile dropped in a second as she regarded him with a deadpan expression. “Really?” She asked.

The words that came out of his mouth registered in his mind and he panicked for a short moment. He turned to face her fully and smiled apologetically. “Sorry,” he said, “force of habit.”

Correction—asshole.

She smacked his arm as he and Indra laughed. Abby turned to their rival coach and scolded her, “You’re not helping!” The two laughed more at that and Abby crossed her arms, pouting, waiting for the laughter to settle.

Indra’s settled first as she patted Abby on the shoulder. “Just like the good ol’ days, huh?”

“Hardly,” Abby replied, still annoyed at them.

“More than you think,” Marcus added in, earning the attention of both women. They followed his gaze to the possession grid where the Grounders kids were standing on the outside, helping out the Delinquents. Lexa was currently collecting a penny from Murphy so he could warm up Wells. Gaia was stepping into the grid to fill in for Wells and drifted towards Raven (who was wearing a penny), much to her dismay. Lincoln was showing Octavia an angle on the ball to hit that would add spin to it. After the switches were made, the possession game started again.

“They do miss playing with them,” Indra commented, a nostalgic smile spreading across her lips as she continued to watch the grid. “They were so excited every time we played you guys. Even after we lost to you in the championship game, they said they were glad to see what their old teammates had become.”

The words warmed Abby’s heart. “Maybe besides Raven’s big head,” Indra added as a second thought. “Poor Gaia didn’t hear the end of it for _weeks_.” And there was the typical Delinquents all three coaches knew and loved.

Opening her mouth to reply, Abby stopped when another light bulb went off in her head. Turning to Indra, she asked her, “What if they could play with them again?”

The question got both of the coaches’ attention, Indra raising an eyebrow in response as Marcus narrowed his eyes in thought, trying to figure out where she was going. “How so?” Indra asked.

Abby grinned and said, “Well, the game I want to add into practice, it requires Wells to be in goal and for everyone to have a partner. When Wells goes into goal, we’ll have uneven numbers.” The two saw where it was going and looked at each other before looking back to Abby, to see her grin had grown even bigger. “If we add those three, we’ll have even numbers!” she finished.

Indra turned back to the possession grid, thinking it over. She watched as Gaia did a give-and-go around Raven with Clarke. Raven pouted as Gaia winked to her and dribbled off before passing it to Jasper. Huffing, Raven ran after Gaia, determined to stop her next time. As she followed Gaia, Lexa ran by her to intercept Jasper’s pass. Looking up, she found Octavia who was running into open space that Lincoln had directed her into.

Smiling to herself a bit, Indra looked back to Abby, saying, “I think they would love that.”

Abby mentally fist pumped her victory, sending a wink in Marcus’ direction. He was studying her and said, “You haven’t even mentioned what game it is yet.”

“It should be obvious,” she replied. When he didn’t take the bait, she continued, “What big event in the soccer world began last week?”

Recognition lit up his features and he answered, “The Women’s World Cup.”

“Exactly,” she said. “So, what game could I possibly be suggesting we play?”

Abby saw the fine line she was walking on in his eyes, but she loved messing with him. He was too easy to tease; he always took her bait and got caught in the trap. He replied, “World Cup.”

“Correct!” She clapped, earning the eyes of all the kids. She looked to them and asked, “How would you guys like for your old teammates to join you for a new game?”

“New game?” Octavia asked, walking over, suspicion etching its way onto her face.

Abby’s grin reappeared and she nodded. “We’ll still play sharks and minnows,” she told her, eyes flickering over to Marcus, “that is, if your dad will allow us.”

Oh yeah, the line she was walking on definitely got thinner by the look he was giving her. Octavia turned to her dad, awaiting his answer. Already knowing it and knowing she won, Abby smiled bigger when Marcus said, “Of course we can, sweetie.”

Octavia smiled big and ran over to Clarke and the others saying, “Two games! With the Grounders! It’s like Christmas in July!”

Some of the kids laughed and all of them went to get water before the next drill started. Indra began to follow them and said, “I’ll tell the kids we’ll stay if they want, but I’m sure we already know the answer.”

Once she was out of earshot range, Marcus made his way to in front of Abby. Grinning innocently up to him, she said, “It’s so convenient they stopped by after their own practice. They’re really helping us out.”

“Mhmm,” Marcus replied as he got closer to her. Abby didn’t falter or back up, letting him tower over her as he examined her face intently. “Convenient enough for you to take advantage of the situation and twist my arm into agreeing to a new game?”

She kept her façade up, noticing the humor dancing in his eyes, knowing he wasn’t truly mad at her. Just two years ago, those words would have been real and probably said with ill intent and harsher words; two years ago those words would have caused Abby to explode. But now, they made her giddy inside, they made her happy.

In response, Abby tapped his temple quickly before running her hand through his hair, mimicking his previous maneuvers directed at Bellamy to his own hair and saying, “Awareness.”

Instead of reacting like Bellamy, Marcus leaned into the touch, smirking at her. After a few more seconds of an intense stare down, without a word, he stepped away from her to set up World Cup.

Not only did the intense stare make her heart beat faster but his lack of response did as well. Usually, he had a quick retort ready to fire back. This time he chose silence, which he knew Abby hated as a response. _Damn him_. He had something up his sleeve, and he knew her being aware of that tad bit, without being fully aware of what it was, was enough to drive her insane. **_DAMN HIM!_**

Trying to not let it bug her, failing immediately, she went over to the kids to explain what game they would be playing. As she approached them she started off saying, “Everyone but Wells get a partner! Wells, you’ll need your gloves for this game.”

Chaos erupted between the kids as they looked and ran to their potential partners. Clarke and Lexa immediately teamed up, hitting fists with a smile. Octavia looked around a bit as the kids rushed to one another before Lincoln walked over to her with a smile, brightening her up quickly. Harper quickly and silently made her way to stand by Monty, leaving Jasper standing alone and looking around. Raven was already standing by Gaia and as soon as the words left Abby’s mouth, Raven looped her arm through Gaia’s, grinning mischievously at her as Gaia rolled her eyes in response.

“I was here first, Murphy!”

“Oh bullshit, Miller,” Murphy shot back. “You know I’m _always_ Bellamy’s partner.”

Bellamy stood in between the two boys, each of his arms in the grasp of the two bickering boys. He didn’t seem to be bothered by being fought over and let the two bicker over who was his partner.

“I beat you to his side,” Miller told Murphy, “and I was farther from him than you!”

“That’s because Coach Kane makes you run twenty times a day!” Murphy argued back.

Dear God, they could argue all practice if it meant they each got the last word in or until one of them won. Not wanting to waste more time or hear it anymore, Abby interrupted them by saying, “Do rock paper scissors. The winner gets to be Bellamy’s partner.”

The two stopped arguing and looked to their coach before looking back at each other. Slowly, they let go of Bellamy and he stepped back to allow them to come closer for the decider. Each closed their right fist and raised it up in front of each other.

Bellamy announced the rules, “Go on ‘shoot’. No trick plays like bomb or whatever comes into your mind, Murphy.”

“Yeah, Murphy,” Miller said, “no cheating.”

“If you’re not cheating,” Murphy replied while tipping his fist up a bit, indicating he was ready, “you’re not trying.”

Abby put her face in her hand when she heard that. It had become Murphy’s motto for everything he got yelled at for, especially when Abby or Marcus yelled at him for cutting corners on sprints or when Alie yelled at him for a cheap foul. She had no idea where he had heard it, but it always came out of his mouth at least once every practice/game.

The rest of the kids circled the two as if it was the rock-off of the century. They all leaned closer as the two raised their fists, ready to begin. Right before they started the countdown, Marcus made his way back over. Noticing the crowd, he asked Abby in a whisper, “What’s going on?”

“They’re doing rock paper scissors for who gets to be Bellamy’s partner,” Abby whispered back.

Having initially thought it was worse than that, Marcus shrugged his shoulders. Throwing the extra cones he had to the side, Marcus commented, “At least they’re not having a burp-off like two weeks ago.”

Abby’s face immediately scrunched up in disgust. That had been a _horrid_ experience. The two decided to see who could burp the loudest. It lasted a whole five minutes before Murphy tried too hard to force a big one and ending up throwing up. Talk about a practice Abby never wanted to remember, and she had some competing ones from the Lifesavers days as well from the early Delinquents days.

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”

Both of the coaches’ heads turned to watch as the fists came down for the final time. The kids held their breath as the two played their move. It was silent as the two looked down to their opponents’ choice, a winner between the two.

“I win!”

“No way!”

Murphy fist pumped and began walking towards Bellamy, smirking to Miller. Miller stared down at his scissors, having been crushed by Murphy’s rock. He accused Murphy, “You cheated!”

“For once, nope,” Murphy replied. “I used a valuable lesson taught to us by our coaches.”

Those words caught everyone’s attention and interest. That _really_ piped up Abby’s and Marcus’ attention, especially since he was the one who usually never paid attention during instructions for a drill and was always asking questions.

“Oh yeah?” Miller said, not convinced. “What lesson was that?”

Murphy walked back over to Miller and told him, “Awareness.”

Oh, Abby and Marcus were _really_ interested now. Moving in a bit closer to hear him, they watched as Miller’s face turned from accusation to confusion. “Awareness?” He asked. “Of What?”

“So glad you asked,” Murphy mocked, earning a few giggles from the others as he grabbed Millers hand that was still in the formation of the scissors. He closed his two fingers back into a fist, but not completely. They hung off and out from the bottom two fingers. Murphy explained, “As we counted down, I could see these two fingers starting to slide out. I figured you were going to play scissors by that movement, so I went with rock.”

“Well shit,” Abby said, a bit too loud as Murphy smiled sarcastically to her. She ignored it, she was actually impressed.

All the other kids were also impressed by it as Miller deflated in defeat. Murphy walked back over to Bellamy who offered him a high five. Turning to find Jasper, Miller called out to him, “As long as we beat them, that’s all I care about.”

Jasper grinned big and smacked him on the back, saying, “Don’t worry, partner! We’ll take them down!” Miller didn’t seem as excited as his partner, who dragged him over to the coaches.

Marcus gave Abby the floor as the kids gathered in front of them to hear about the new game. Grinning, she told them, “As you all know, the Women’s World Cup began last week! In honor of that, we’re going to play our own version of World Cup!”

The former Lifesavers and current Grounders all got excited, having played it before. Octavia, a former Assassin, asked on the behalf of all the others who had never played it before, “What’s World Cup?”

“Well,” Abby began, “it’s a knockout game, just like a tournament. Everyone has a partner, and you and your partner are going to represent a country of your choice. For the beginning, every country is in. The way to keep your team alive and advance is by scoring a goal. Once you score, you’re done for that round. You wait off to the side to see what country is eliminated at the end of the round. If you’re the last country standing at the end of the round, you’re out of the World Cup. After a country has been eliminated, all the teams that advanced come back on the field for the next round. The process continues until we have two teams left in the championship game.”

“But,” Marcus added in, “there’s a twist to advancing.”

“It has to do with scoring,” Abby said. “When you shoot the ball, you have to yell your country’s name. If you don’t shout your name and score, it doesn’t count. Deflections also count as long as the country name is said before the ball crosses the line. So, what skill will ensure your team is successful?”

“Awareness!” All the kids shouted at once.

Abby smiled, shooting a Marcus “I-told-ya” look that would’ve pissed him off two years ago. He rolled his eyes at her before telling the kids, “Everyone has a minute to come up with a country name. No duplicates!”

Immediately, the kids split off in their pairs, debating what country they wanted to represent. Marcus leaned over to her and asked, “Want to make a bet?”

That peaked Abby’s interest and she asked, “On what?”

Marcus examined the kids, watching as Bellamy and Miller fought over one country. He told her, “On who will win the World Cup.”

Abby was watching the kids too and her eyes locked on her daughter. Clarke and Lexa seemed to have picked a country as they looked out to the set up Marcus had created for the game. They were talking and pointing to areas in the boundaries. They seemed to be creating a game plan.

“Sure,” Abby said, “I’m placing my money on Clarke and Lexa.”

“Hmm,” Marcus responded as his eyes traveled to Raven and Gaia. Raven was pointing to the front of the goal and emphasizing something to Gaia, who was nodding along to whatever she was saying. As Raven pointed further away from the goal, Gaia nodded and gave her own input as well. “I’ll place mine on Raven and Gaia.”

“Not your own son or daughter?” Abby asked, a bit surprised and concerned he knew something she didn’t.

He looked back to her and said, “Raven is always willing to do whatever it takes to win. I think she’ll come up with some very creative ways to make sure that happens.”

 _Or_ he’s somehow managed to manipulate the game already. The kids needed to be aware to win the game, but she needed to be aware to win the bet and find out whatever Marcus was hiding.

“Time’s up!” Marcus yelled, drawing the kids back together. “Alright, let us know your countries. Bell?”

“We’re Peru,” he told his dad.

“Miller and Jasper?”

“Canada!”

“Who was fighting over what country?” Marcus asked his son.

“We both wanted Spain,” Bellamy explained, “but we both settled on different countries anyways.”

Marcus nodded and looked to his daughter. “What country did you two decide on?”

Octavia smiled and said, “USA!”

“Home advantage,” Abby commented. “Smart decision. Clarke?”

“Australia!” The two girls proclaimed together.

“Harper?” Abby asked. “What did you and Monty decide on?”

Harper grinned big and said, “South Korea!”

“Perfect,” Abby replied. She looked over to the last team, and her suspicion spiked when her eyes fell on Raven. The girl’s grin was huge, eager to let everyone know their country. Cautiously, she asked, “Raven? What did you and Gaia choose?”

“Djibouti!”

Abby didn’t respond at first. Raven’s choice didn’t surprise her, it really didn’t. She honestly should have seen it coming. What froze her from replying was Gaia’s willingness to go along with it. As if sensing her concern, Gaia told her, “She said she would buy me ice cream if I let her choose our country.”

That made sense. Raven seemed to have a knock for persuading people with ice cream. Abby learned of that last year when she overheard Clarke and Octavia talking about a bet they made with Raven two years ago on who, between Abby and Marcus, would make the first move. Abby remembered Clarke getting ice cream after a game without asking her for money only to find out Raven had bought it for her. It seemed ice cream was the winning prize for guessing right that Marcus would make the first move.

Abby wasn’t sure if she was offended or glad her daughter wouldn’t think she would’ve caved first during that time. Had she stayed by that fire that night instead of running inside, leaving him to chase her, she might have made the first move instead.

Just deciding to shrug it off, Abby said, “Raven, you may want to consider being a sales person when you grow up.”

“Do they make a lot money?” Raven asked.

“If you sell to the right people,” Marcus replied, “then you can make a ton.”

Abby saw the dollar signs popping in her eyes as Raven’s grin from before grew wider. Turning to Gaia, Raven told her, “You’re my first successful transaction, you should be honored.”

Rolling her eyes, Gaia told her, “I’ll be honored after we win this and I get my ice cream.”

Abby laughed as those words stirred up competitiveness amongst the kids. Before they could get at each other’s throats before the game even started, Abby told them, “Okay, so everyone has a country name to represent their team. We’ll hand out pennies for you and your partner so it’s easier for us to tell the teams apart, but remember to shout your country out anytime you shoot the ball. Any questions?”

Of course, Murphy raised his hand the air. Little shit. Raising an eyebrow, Abby asked, “Yes, Murphy?”

He lowered his hand and asked, “How come we didn’t do this for Men’s World Cup last year?”

All eyes turned to Abby, Marcus raising an eyebrow back in her direction. Mocking him from earlier, she gave him a sarcastic smile, telling him, “Because unlike our women’s team, the men’s national team failed to qualify.”

All the girls hollered and clapped in response. Raven commented, “Probably because they play like Miller,” earning a few laughs from everyone except Miller. He raised his hands in defeat, shaking his head.

“Just wait until I knock you out of the first round,” he shot back.

“You’d have to qualify first!” She yelled back, grabbing a penny Marcus handed her. She ran off to the grid as the kids laughed and received their designated penny.

As all the kids made their way to the grid, Marcus and Abby collected the balls to bring over. As they walked them over, Marcus said, “We never mentioned a prize for the winner of our bet.”

Abby thought but couldn’t think of anything too spectacular. All she could think about was ice cream thanks to Raven. She told him, “All I can think about right now as a wager is buying the winner ice cream.”

“Sounds good to me,” Marcus said as they loaded the balls on one side of the post. The kids filed into the grid. It was the width of the eighteen-yard box, along with it extending about ten yards past the top of the eighteen-yard box. “But how about we add the winner also gets to use their pennies in the next drill?”

Stopping before she reached the post beside him, an alarm went off in her head. He kept walking until he was beside the post with most of the balls. He looked up to her, waiting for her give him the rest of the balls as well as a response. She narrowed her eyes at him and all he did in response was smile.

He was _definitely_ hiding something. _Awareness, Abby_. That’s what she kept telling herself, and she _was_ aware of his suspicious behavior, but she wasn’t aware of the reason. His innocent smile wasn’t helping the situation either.

“Well?” He asked. “For old times’ sake?”

If they were in the old times, Abby would’ve thrown his penny bag into the parking lot in response. She would’ve hid them from him like she did two years ago. But that was then, and now, Marcus had humor glistening in his eyes, knowing exactly what he was poking at.

Believing he just wanted to rile her up, she said, “Deal. It’s not like it’ll matter when Clarke and Lexa win anyways.”

Marcus smirked to himself as Abby joined him by the post. “We’ll see about that,” he whispered to himself. As she dropped the rest of the balls by the post, not facing the field, Marcus whistled to get everyone’s attention. They all looked to him and he asked, “Ready?” looking specifically to Raven.

They all screamed, ready to go. Raven sent him a knowing smile just as Abby turned around. Picking up one ball, he punted it out into the grid, shouting, “The World Cup has officially started!”

Chaos erupted in the grid. Regular soccer rules flew out the window as the coaches watched Miller shove Murphy out of the way to run after the ball. Not letting him get far, Murphy snatched a handful of Miller’s penny and yanked him back. The action backfired as Miller fell backwards, falling into Murphy and knocking them both over and onto the ground. The other ten kids ran around the two as they argued about fouls.

Lincoln was the first to reach the ball and easily escaped the swarm of kids chasing him. As he made his way towards the goal, Wells got set in position, waiting for his shot. The swarm that had followed Lincoln spread apart as they got ready for a rebound. Lining up his shot, Lincoln let it go as everyone heard Octavia yell, “USA!”

The shot was beautiful. Abby watched in awe as the ball curved away from the goal, towards the right side, and then suddenly curve inside towards the right post. For someone who played center defense, Lincoln had a hell of a technical shot. Everyone watched as Wells leaped out to the side, trying to get anything on it to redirect it from goal. Barely getting his left hand on it, the little push he gave it, caused it to not go in.

It hit off the post and landed right at the feet of Raven. With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she screamed, “DJIBOUTI!” and nailed the ball into the net before Wells could even recover from his dive.

Throwing her hands up the air, Raven added on, “We’ve qualified onto the next round!” as she high fived Gaia. They walked off the field as Marcus grabbed another ball to play in.

He threw it in and looked to Abby, a smirk adorning his features. She rightfully ignored him, looking out into the grid instead and focusing on her daughter. Clarke was hanging more towards the goal as Lexa fought with Bellamy over the loose ball.

Lexa eventually got the upper hand and sped away with the ball. Leaving him the dust, Lexa looked for her partner. Clarke moved away from Monty, who had drifted into her space. Finding an open lane, Lexa slotted a perfect ball right in front of Clarke’s movement. Not needing a second touch, Clarke lined up a shot as Wells tried to shift from one post to the other.

“Australia!” Clarke shouted as tapped the ball into the goal with ease.

“Fuck yeah!” Abby whisper-shouted to herself. Marcus’ eyes traveled from the two girls hugging while they exited the field to his girlfriend. She offered him his smirk back and whispered as he collected another ball, “Game on.”

Throwing it out to the grid, his smirk reappeared. “Game on,” he said as he grabbed another ball, suddenly launching it into the grid.

The kids, not expecting two active balls to be put in, stopped for a quick second, assessing the situation. The calm only lasted for a second before chaos broke out once again. Harper charged after one ball while Monty went after another, trying to increase their chances by going after both.

Miller challenged the ball Harper collected, but she easily made her way around him. As she made her way towards the goal, Jasper came flying out of nowhere. Still as uncontrollable as always, his energy and sprint caused him to tackle Harper head on. The collision caused the ball to spit out from between them, traveling into empty space.

At the same time, Monty had given up on the other ball, deciding to let Lincoln and Bellamy fight it out. Upon deciding to help Harper instead, he was running to them right in the path of their ball. Seeing the opportunity, he picked up the pace of his run to reach it before the others.

The coaches watched intently as he wound up for a shot. Wells was having trouble keeping his eyes on both balls, unsure which to pay more attention to. Since Lincoln and Bellamy were still duking it out towards the top of the grid, Wells fully focused on Monty. He got set in goal as Monty let a shot off.

It was a hard-driven shot to the lower right corner. Throughout the two years, Monty had really improved his shot. He liked to leave the glamorous and breath-taking shots for Bellamy to handle as he settled for simple and technical finishes. This shot was a specific favorite of his, much to Wells’ knowledge.

Knowing Monty was more than likely to shoot there, Wells had begun to cheat towards the post. As the ball traveled across the grass and towards its target, the familiar scenario shattered. Somehow, Jasper had managed to untangle himself from the tackle with Harper and cover the ground the ball traveled in the matter of a few seconds. In doing so, he found himself tripping over the ball in an attempt to block the ball.

The ball hit off his feet, shins, the ground, and his feet again as he plummeted towards the ground. When the ball finally ricocheted off him and away, Wells was already in mid-dive to stop Monty’s original shot.

“USA!”

That same loose ball sailed through the air, off the foot of Octavia, who had been creeping behind the chaos, waiting for a chance to slip in and steal the ball. Wells hit the ground and tried to reach the other way to stop the ball, but it was useless. The ball hit the back of the net, signaling a goal.

The two boys who were fighting over the other ball stopped their spat to turn and look at the scene. Upon realizing he had advanced, Lincoln kicked the ball away from Bellamy and out of the grid. The movement immediately recaptured Bellamy’s attention and he watched the ball leave the grid. “Hey!” he complained, a little out of breath from the tackle.

As Lincoln jogged over to Octavia and off the field, the two of them said in unison, “Awareness.”

Huffing out a retort, Bellamy sulked his way back to the middle of the grid. Marcus gave his daughter a high five, impressed she had used what he taught the group. Abby leaned over at the point as he tossed another ball into the grid, asking, “You sure you don’t want to switch your winning team?”

He smirked a bit, looking down to her as Wells blocked an immediate shot from Bellamy. He responded, “I think you’re forgetting that Raven scored first.”

“Because she happened to be where the rebounded landed,” Abby shot back. “That was lucky.”

Harper tried a shot this time, Wells blocking it as well, sending it out for a possible rebound. It happened to land where Bellamy was following the shot. Not giving Wells a chance to recover, he shouted, “Peru!” while burying the ball in the back of the net.

“Not luck,” Marcus said, nodding to his son in approval for following the shot like he was supposed to, “awareness.”

Oh God. Abby felt that word could be used as an excuse for anything.

“Finally!” Murphy shouted from the field, jogging to go off with Bellamy. He looked back to the field and told Miller, “In case you weren’t aware,” literally anything, “pressure’s on!”

Miller mumbled something under his breath that Abby decided to not hear as Marcus sent in another ball for the sudden death round. Either Jasper and Miller or Monty and Harper would be eliminated from the World Cup if they didn’t score.

“I lose either way,” the two coaches heard Cece say.

“I don’t,” Roan replied. “COME ON HARPER!”

The two coaches laughed at the two, shaking their heads. Even though they teamed up to annoy other parents, they still had that rivalry between the two that was forever present at practices. It wasn’t a “throw my lawn chair at you” kind of rivalry anymore but more of a playful one.

Focusing their attention back on the kids fighting to advance, Miller was trying to get around Harper. Jasper was making a ton of runs, trying to get open for him, but Harper was cutting all the angles off. Monty was sneaking in the background, waiting for a chance to steal the ball if Harper got it loose.

This went on for about a minute before Abby got impatient. Abby needed to win, and she needed to win _now_. Taking matters into her own hands, she grabbed another ball from beside Marcus and tossed it into the grid.

Jasper and Monty’s attention was immediately drawn from the previous ball and to the new one. Forgetting all about the one Miller had, Jasper immediately went after the new one. Monty hesitated for a quick moment, not sure if he should abandon Harper or not.

The hesitation was all the time Jasper needed. He quickly collected the free ball and turned, charging towards Wells. Wells flicked his eyes between the two balls, trying to cut both off as best as he could. As Jasper made his way towards Wells, Miller finally managed to get around Harper and also started to make his way towards the goal.

Perfectly timed together, both boys wound up for a shot and yelled at the same time, “Canada!”

Each let their shot go and Wells sprawled his body out in every direction, hoping one body part would stop one of the balls. His prayers were answered as Miller’s shot hit off his left leg, but the velocity still sent the ball past his leg, only shifting the direction of the path upward. The small deflection had the ball smack the cross bar and fly downwards towards the goal line.

In contrast, Wells completely missed Jasper’s shot. It sailed past his hands and sailed right behind him. The only issue was that Miller had a more powerful kick than Jasper, so his ball traveled faster than his towards the goal. As Jasper’s ball snuck behind Wells, Miller’s ball was coming off the crossbar. They met in the middle, crashing against one another.

Abby hid her face, afraid one was going to find its way around the post and hit her. She had been there before when Jasper decided to shoot. Much to her appreciation and surprise, she didn’t end up with a black eye. Lowering her hands, she looked to the goal to see that both balls had ended up in the goal, one in each end.

“I didn’t study physics,” Abby commented as everyone stared in disbelief, “but even I know that defied their laws.”

“Jasper was, and is, one to never follow rules,” Marcus replied, just as flabbergasted. “Physics isn’t an exception apparently.”

The two boys came off the field while everyone comprehended what happened. Walking up to Bellamy and Murphy, Miller told them, “We got two goals on you.”

Snapping out of it, Murphy waved it off, “Too bad it only counts as one.”

Abby shook her head as Monty and Harper made their way off the field. She heard Cece tell Roan, “Karma’s a bitch.”

“You lost as well in case you forgot,” he replied. Two years ago Roan probably would’ve asked when she changed her name to Karma and that would’ve resulted in an infamous lawn-chair throw by her.

“And I still have another kid in,” she shot back, “ _in case you forgot_.”

Character development was truly a beautiful thing. Marcus rolled his eyes at them while collecting the balls for the next round. The kids were done getting water and filed into the grid once again to start off the second round. Monty and Harper sat beside the coaches, eager to watch the next round.

“Alright,” Marcus announced, holding a ball up in the air, “the second round of the World Cup is about to begin! South Korea was eliminated last round, who will be eliminated this round?”

“Canada!”

Miller crossed his arms as everyone besides his partner laughed at Raven’s outburst. Glaring her down, he only looked away after she winked at him and pranced away to stand in front of the goal. Pulling Jasper close to him, Miller pointed at her and told him, “Don’t let her touch a single ball.”

With a grin and a nod, Jasper immediately went after her, ignoring the ball Marcus played out into the grid. As the second round started, Marcus stepped back to be besides Abby and crossed his arms over his chest. He told her, watching the chaos unfold all over again, “We might’ve just undid all the progress we made two years ago.”

“In the span of fifteen minutes?” Abby questioned aloud, eyes traveling over to where Jaha was sitting. Not surprisingly, he was on his phone. Remembering his comment at their first game together two years ago about how they had managed to set a new record time for how quickly things went to shit for them in only ten minutes, she shrugged, saying, “We’ve done worse.”

As if it was his cue (Abby swears he has a sixth sense for it), Jaha looked up at the mention of them ruining something. As his eyes scanned the grid, he had found his son Murphy in time to see him trip over the ball and fall flat on his face. Shaking his head, he looked back down to his phone.

The two coaches switched their attention back to the grid as Lincoln collected the ball Murphy had lost. Unfortunately for Murphy and Wells, it was right in front of the goal. Slotting the ball under Well’s right glove, Lincoln said, “USA!” as the ball rolled into the back of the net.

Octavia ran off, jumping up and down with excitement, and hugged Lincoln. He smiled, a slight blush washing over his cheeks as he looked up to Marcus. Smiling but also giving him a pointed look, Marcus shook his head as he sent the next ball in.

“We might’ve also given Octavia a new favorite game,” Marcus told Abby.

“Is that dread I hear?” Abby asked him, a smirk growing on her lips. “Wouldn’t you just _love_ to get rid of sharks and minnows?”

“Two years ago I would’ve jumped at the chance, _but,_ ” Marcus replied, emphasizing his words like she did, “had I done that, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”

So confused by his statement, Abby barely ducked away from Jasper’s haywire shot. He grinned big as an apology before his attention was shifted to Raven as she ran to the opposite side of the grid. As she stood back up, the words settled in her mind. Alarms went off in the back of her head as she asked, “What do you mean ‘where I am now’?”

“Well,” he replied, “what did that game give us?”

“It let us keep our jobs.”

Marcus laughed at her response, even though it was the truth. Had Octavia not fallen in love with sharks and minnows, she would have never gained the confidence to take on Emerson in the championship two years ago. Acknowledging that with a nod of his head, he said, “Which led us to where we stand now.”

“On the field?”

Marcus laughed and shook his head, pointing between the two of them. He elaborated, “What we are.”

“Coaches?”

Marcus gave her a pointed look and shook his head when he saw the pure confusion on her face. Stepping closer to her, he lightly grabbed a loose strand of hair that rested on her cheek. As he tucked it behind her ear, his eyes focused solely on hers, he said, “Us.”

Abby barely registered hearing Raven shout her country’s name as Gaia shot the ball. She barely noticed it going in the goal. Her attention was focused solely on the man in front of her, the way his eyes glistened with love, and the tender touch of his fingertips slowly caressing her cheek.

He whispered to her, “Abby, everything we did, everything that happened, happened so we could get here.”

Abby’s heart froze for a moment, the words creating emotions of indescribable nature to rush through her. When her heart began beating again, it was faster than normal. The faster it pumped, the more she felt those emotions coursing through her. Offering him a soft smile back, she replied, “I believe that too.”

The smile that appeared on his lips resembled hers. Abby was so caught off guard and pleasantly content with their current state, she didn’t notice the alarm going off in the back of her head.

“Hey lovebirds!”

The trance between the two broke like glass shattering. Dropping his hand from her face to face who shouted it, Abby tried to not let her dissatisfaction from the now cold area of her cheek and annoyance at the interruption make its way into her posture. Guessing from Murphy’s raised eyebrow to her, she failed. Having been the one to shout the nickname, he added on, “Throw the next ball in!”

Murphy was hard headed since the first day he joined Abby’s team six years ago, and since then, his head has only gotten harder. Ever since she and Marcus had become official, their relationship became a new target for him to challenge. He knew he could push their buttons separately, so Abby could only imagine the opportunities he found when they officially started dating.

As Marcus rightfully didn’t respond verbally and tossed another ball into the grid, Abby saw Raven and Gaia joining Lincoln and Octavia on the sideline. Suspicious, she asked the duo, “Should I ask the others to confirm you advanced fairly?”

“If you weren’t too busy making lovey-dovey eyes at Coach Kane, then you would’ve saw the banger Gaia scored,” Raven said matter-of-factly, raising at eyebrow at Abby.

The only thing that came from Abby in response was a blush across her cheeks. Even though it had been two years since Raven had got caught them kissing in Marcus’ hallway, she used every chance she could to remind her she witnessed it and hold it over her head. Trying to backpedal and win, Abby replied, “Since it was Gaia that scored, I can believe it was a banger.”

“Oh, just you wait,” Raven replied, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I’ll score you a banger too!”

As the two passed by the two coaches, Abby watched Raven smile mischievously to herself and rubbed her hands together. Those alarms in Abby’s head went off as she watched the duo finally reach the others that had advanced. Keeping an eye on the troublesome girl, she told Marcus, “She’s up to something.”

Marcus was watching the game, foot resting on a spare ball, rocking it back and forth. “She always is,” he responded, but spared her a small glance, adding, “but good awareness.”

Rolling her eyes at the last word, she joined his side to continue watching as well. There was only one ball in the grid at the moment and Bellamy was in possession of it. Clarke was marking Murphy to make him unavailable while Lexa defended Bellamy from attacking the goal. Jasper was hanging around Clarke and Murphy while Miller trailed slightly behind Lexa.

With a sudden thought forming in her mind, Abby asked, “What if we both lose?”

“What?”

“The bet,” Abby said as Bellamy dribbled past Lexa, firing a shot wide. As Marcus threw another ball into the grid, he looked over to her as she let her eyes stay on her daughter. “What if neither of the teams we chose wins the World Cup?” she asked.

“You doubting your daughter already?”

Before Abby could respond, both heard Australia being shouted and the whoosh of the net from the ball making contact. They both saw Lexa running over and hugging Clarke for the goal. Abby looked to the net to see the ball in the bottom right corner. Turning to Marcus, Abby said, “You were saying?”

A slight smirk appeared on his lip as he twirled the ball in his hand as he waited for the two girls to exit the grid and join those who qualified for the next round. “Nothing too important,” he said, “just becoming aware of your lack of confidence in your daughter to win the World Cup.”

The smirk on his lips also spoke the silent words that he knew the fine line he was walking used to be a fuse that would’ve cause her to explode two years ago. Words that used to spark a fire that would rage on until it burned everything in its path now lit a fire that warmed her whole.

Smirking back, she replied, “I’m just aware that Raven will do anything to win, and that doesn’t exclude cheating.”

“Actually,” he replied, tossing the ball into the grid for the sudden death round, “she bends the rules to the fullest extent. She’s never broken one.”

“Close enough,” Abby said. “She’s too damn smart for her own good.”

Marcus laughed as he turned his attention to the two remaining teams. Bellamy and Murphy were left to verse Miller and Jasper for the last spot to advance on. Bellamy had won the initial ball and was facing Miller who was defending him. Jasper was behind his partner, running around to make sure Murphy couldn’t get the ball.

“You ready to lose?” Bellamy asked Miller, slowly setting up a shot.

Miller followed him, eyes trained on the ball. He answered, “I’m ready to advance.”

“Be ready for an upset!” Murphy yelled as he tried to throw Jasper off his trail.

Ignoring him, Miller kept his attention on Bellamy and the ball at his feet. Bellamy took advantage of the over commitment and faked a shot, causing Miller to lunge forward. Through the fake shot, Bellamy touched the ball slightly to the side to move to the side of Miller, opening the goal for him. Quickly, Bellamy lined up for a shot before Miller could recover.

After finding where he wanted to shoot, Bellamy kicked the ball, letting off a rocket. It zipped right past Miller, who let out an audibly, “Shit,” as it went by. It was a driven shot, barely coming off the ground and aimed for the lower right corner of the goal.

“Per—”

Bellamy stopped mid-word when his shot suddenly hit Jasper, who wasn’t paying attention to the ball at all. Since his full focus was on Murphy, his back was to Bellamy, causing him to be oblivious of the shot. The ball got stuck in between Jasper’s feet, and he fell to the floor instantly; however, the ball got redirected and now shot towards the middle of the goal.

Miller was turning as the scene unfolded, seeing the last second of the ball hitting off Jasper’s foot. As his eyes followed the new path the ball was going, registering that Wells was already diving for the original shot, he quickly shouted, “CANADA!”

Realization dawned in Bellamy on what was happening and he took off after the ball in a lost cause. By the time he had passed Miller, the ball was crossing the goal line and rolling into the net, signaling a goal.

Everyone was silent. They were either stunned with silence or dumbfounded by how the goal came to be.

“HELL YEAH!”

Miller broke the silence as he jumped in the air, fist pumping. He quickly ran over to Jasper, helping him up off the floor. He was grinning big and shook his partner, yelling, “WE DID IT!”

Murphy stood behind Jasper, unimpressed. Trying to get the last laugh, he commented, “You’ve been in the sudden death stage every round and got lucky.”

Miller finished dusting Jasper off before turning to Murphy. He shot him a grin before replying, “We still advanced, unlike someone.”

Rolling his eyes, Murphy crossed his arms before walking off the field to join Monty and Harper. Bellamy was frozen in his spot once he realized he wouldn’t reach the ball in time. As he passed him, Murphy grabbed him by the arm, pulling him along with him. As they exited the field, Bellamy spoke aloud his thoughts, “That makes no sense. How did that happen?”

Marcus was busy collecting the balls and set some down by his son. He stood up, raising an eyebrow, asking, “Did you see Jasper in the area before you shot it?”

“No…”

Smiling, Marcus reached over and messed his son’s hair up again. As Bellamy fought his father’s hand off, Marcus told him, “Maybe if you had been aware of that fact, you wouldn’t have taken the shot, therefore resulting in no goal for them.”

Finally winning the battle and shoving his father’s hand out of his hair, he tried to combing his fingers through it to rake it down. He said, “Yeah, yeah, I get it. _Awareness_.”

“Mhmm,” Marcus agreed, toe-poking a ball through Bellamy’s split legs. “ _Awareness._ ”

Abby laughed at Bellamy’s expression—the look of betrayal and annoyance. With slumped shoulders, Bellamy slowly dropped to the ground to do his push up as Marcus picked up a ball for the next round.

He announced, “Peru has been eliminated! We are in the quarterfinals now. Who will advance to the semifinals?”

“Not Canada!”

Miller looked over to Raven, crossing his arms over his chest. He told her, “Last time you said that, we advanced.”

“And there has to be a perfect balance to everything,” Raven retorted. “So, this time you won’t.”

He shook his head at her nonsense as did Abby. Like Marcus had stated earlier, Raven wasn’t only good at bending the rules, she was also good at creating the perfect, some-how-plausible excuse for anything. What should would say could have no relevance to the conversation at hand, but the logic behind a lot of it couldn’t be argued—and she knew it.

Again, like Abby said, she’s too damn smart for her own good.

Marcus threw the ball into the grid, starting the quarterfinals. As the kids got into their preferred positions and went after the ball, Abby told him, “You never answered my question from earlier.”

He looked down to her after Wells blocked a shot from Lincoln. He knew she was referring to the possibility of neither of their teams winning. Clarke would win, Abby was sure of it, but by mentioning it, she was hoping to throw him off his game and maybe get him to reveal whatever the hell he was hiding.

He scratched at his beard, deep in thought. Finally, he said, “If for some reason Raven or Clarke don’t win, we can go based on who advances the farthest. Sound fair?”

Abby thought it over before nodding in agreement. She tilted her head up to him, saying, “Sounds good, Coach.”

He looked down to her, a small smile curling up on his lips. He nodded a bit before affirming, “Sounds good, Coach.”

The title never failed to make her smile. Ever since he began to finally call her it two years ago, she learned to appreciate it every chance she heard it. Having been neglected that acknowledgement for four years, hearing it now never got old.

“Australia!”

Recognizing her daughter’s voice, Abby looked from Marcus to the grid in time to see Clarke taking a shot from the right side of the goal. Over the years, since Clarke had permanently moved to center back, she had been practicing her services and through balls. She was one of the most technical players on the ball in regards to always being able to place the ball where she wanted.

This time was no exception as the ball sailed right over Well’s fingertips and into the upper left corner of the goal. At the same time, Lexa and Abby jumped the air, screaming in joy. As the Grounder hugged her partner and walked her off with a big grin, Clarke smiled big to her mother. Abby offered her a thumbs up and a smirk to Marcus after Clarke looked away. Rolling his eyes, Marcus sent another ball in.

The ball fell in between Lincoln and Gaia, and the two immediately tackled each other, eager to get the ball. Lincoln eventually overpowered Gaia but ran into trouble with Raven making a beeline towards him, Miller in tow. Looking around, he found Octavia sneaking behind the chaos, just like he had shown in her possession beforehand. Smiling to himself, he slipped a perfectly placed ball in front of her run, passing the two barreling towards him.

Octavia calmly collected the ball and dribbled towards the goal. Raven halted her run, turning to watch Octavia go to goal. As Octavia lined up a shot, Raven said, “Shit,” at the same time Octavia called out her country.

Since Abby and Marcus had moved in together, Octavia spent a lot more time with Clarke. In their free time, Clarke would show Octavia the technical things she did to get the ball where she wanted. Just like two years ago, Octavia would practice the same thing a million times on her own, perfecting it until she was satisfied with it.

So, it was no surprise that Octavia curled her shot right around Well’s diving figure. The two coaches watched as the ball rolled into the net, signifying that team USA would be advancing, leaving Canada and Djibouti to fight for the last spot in the semifinals.

As the duo walked off, Abby leaned over to Marcus asking, “You regret your decision yet?”

He was spinning a ball in his hand and looked down to her, smirk intact. The alarms from before went off again, making her suspicious. She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to read anything, _anything_ , from his expression but came up blank.

He must’ve noticed her failure to become aware of what he was hiding because his smirk turned into an innocent grin. Her irritation only spiked and her eyes narrowed more in response. He was aware of her unawareness and he got off on it since he was always preaching awareness. This wasn’t what Abby needed. Abby needed to Clarke and Lexa to win the World Cup; she needed to use her pennies. She also needed to become aware of whatever Marcus was hiding. At this rate, she would also need a shot—maybe two.

Deciding she didn’t want to hear his answer, she stole the ball from his hands and looked to the grid, ready to start the sudden death round. Raven had made her way back to the front of the goal and looked around at her situation. “Tragic,” she said as she looked to her coaches. Before either could comment, she looked to Miller, adding, “For you.”

He raised an eyebrow back in response, stating the obvious, “You’re also up for elimination.”

“But,” she argued, “I won’t be eliminated.”

“We’ll see about that,” he responded, walking further out in the grid towards Gaia.

Ready to have Marcus eat his grin and win, Abby threw the ball into the grid. She threw it away from all the kids, making Miller and Gaia run out after it. She felt the judging eyes from the coach beside her and she looked to him, asking, “What?”

He shrugged, rocking a ball beneath his foot. He said, “I just find it interesting that I never threw the ball astray from the kids, but the moment my team is in the elimination round, you throw it to the farthest point from any of them.”

Crossing her arms, she watched as Gaia got cornered by Miller at the edge of the grid. Mocking his shrug, Abby told him, “I’m making them work for their qualification. We _are_ getting closer to the championship.”

He stayed quiet for a moment as he took in her words. _That_ smile came back on his face as he shook his head, not responding. He followed her gaze, watching as Gaia nutmegged Miller and ran around him to attack the goal. As she collected the ball again, she looked up to find Raven. She was rested in her assigned spot in front of the goal, waiting.

Lining up the shot, Gaia shouted, “Djibouti!” as she let her leg go. While Gaia was technical with her feet and dribbling, when it came to shooting, she had the strongest shot out of the three Grounders. The power was well represented as the two coaches could hear the ball whistle through the air to the goal.

Unfortunately, Gaia’s aim was a little off as she got under the ball a little too much. In result, the ball smacked off the crossbar and flung back out at a great speed. The ball flew by Gaia and made its way towards Miller. As the ball made its way to him, he ran to it, ready to shoot it with one touch. As he came in contact with the ball, he shouted, “Canada!” sending it flying back towards the goal.

Unlike his other teammates, Miller was never known for his accuracy on his shots. He always relied on power, and it seemed Raven was going to fall victim to it. She realized too late that the ball was headed right for her. “Oh shi—” was all she got out before the ball hit her right on the back, cutting her off.

Abby was ready to rush onto the field in case Raven collapsed with the air being knocked out of her, but she was frozen in her spot as she continued to watch the ball. Wells had begun to move to the right side of the goal, trying to save Miller’s initial shot; however, after it hit Raven, it got deflected to the left side of the goal.

Raven, holding her back, turned in time to see the path her deflection had sent the ball. Panicking, she screamed, “Djibouti!” right before the ball crossed the goal line and went into the goal.

Everyone fell silent as the ball rolled to a stop in the net. Canada was officially eliminated and Djibouti just landed a spot in the semifinals against the USA and Australia. The result, not just based on country names, was a bit shocking.

Bellamy broke the silence, asking, “Again, _how_ did that happen?!”

“Awareness!” Raven shouted, throwing her arms in the air. “Ow!”

“Awareness?” Miller challenged, his facial expression giving away his shock about the events that had unfolded. He, including everyone else, couldn’t believe what had happened. “More like you got in the way.”

Raven rubbed her back, discomfort on her face. She looked over to Miller and told him, “I saw you lining up for a shot, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get out of the way in time. By becoming aware of that,” she sent a quick wink to Marcus, “I decided to just take the hit and hope for the best. And I got it! Canada is eliminated!”

Again, Raven played her cards, knowing her opponent was going to inevitably fold. Miller, knowing he couldn’t fight the goal and still confused about the whole situation, just shrugged and responded with, “I got what I wanted—to advance further than Bellamy and Murphy.” Both of the mentioned boys sent him a glare as he walked off with Jasper.

Gaia was helping Raven off the field and to their water as the remaining teams got ready for the semifinals. Still flabbergasted by the goal, Abby turned to Marcus, saying, “I know in the past I tried blaming Cage for bad weather and you told me it was impossible…”

Marcus raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to continue. When she didn’t continue on except raise an eyebrow back at him, the accusation clicked in his head. He laughed a little as the rest of the balls came back to rest at his feet. He said, “I know you think highly of me,” oh here we go, “but I had no influence on that goal.”

“Mhmm…” Abby responded, looking back to the bench where the kids were mingling while hydrating. She saw Octavia talking to Lincoln and pointing towards the grid. Lincoln had a look of confusion at first but then looked over to where the two coaches were standing. Looking back to his partner, he agreed with whatever she was talking about with a nod and they began to make their way back to the grid.

“Maybe she is just using my lesson of awareness,” Marcus added on, picking a ball up.

Ignoring the alarms that went off in her head after seeing Octavia and Lincoln, Abby gave him a pointed look. She said, “The day these kids take that lesson seriously is the day I willingly let you use your pennies.”

He smirked in response and the alarms in her head got louder, wailing faster. “Hope is everything,” he replied, ending the conversation before she could try and decipher his reaction.

“Alright,” he yelled out to the remaining three teams standing in the grid, “this is the semifinals. Whichever two teams advance will go to the championship where our world champion will be crowned.”

“Which will be Djibouti!”

Another thing about Raven that had gotten bigger over the two years was her ego and confidence. Defeating Mount Weather had truly done a number on her. Like Indra had told her earlier about poor Gaia getting an earful after their back-to-back championships, it seemed Raven had moved into bragging before it actually happened. It took guts to proclaim oneself that good, but Raven had the history and future earnings to prove it.

“Game on!” Marcus shouted as he threw the ball in the far corner, forcing the three teams to move from their preferred positions. Noticing this, Abby side-eyed him, which he returned along with telling her, “Not a bad idea, Coach.”

Damn him, he knew what he was doing. And damn herself, she fell for it.

Lexa had gotten to the ball first, but she was immediately swarmed by Lincoln and Octavia. Clarke tried giving her partner support but the two had her trapped in the corner of the grid. Gaia and Raven inched their way towards the trio, ready to steal any loose ball.

Noticing she had no way out, Lexa put her foot on the ball. Taking a deep breath, she took one small touch forward before trying to pull off a miracle. Right after she took her first touch, she overran the ball by a small bit so it rested in between her legs. Planting her left foot in front of the ball straight on, she used the inside of her right foot to drag the ball to her left foot’s heel. As soon as the ball made contact with her heel, she began lifting her left foot in the air while keeping the right foot on it slightly as it rolled up her heel.

Letting her right foot drop off the ball as it rested on the upper half of her heel, Lexa gave the ball a kick with her heel as she kept her running momentum forward. With ease, the ball sailed upwards and came forward in sync with her run. The two of them traveled forward, the ball slightly in front of Lexa as she pushed her way through team USA. Once she broke out on the other side, the ball fell to the ground at her feet. Having successfully pulled off a rainbow over the two, Lexa broke out into a fast-paced dribble towards the goal.

Raven was so caught off guard, she couldn’t react in time to track back to her spot in front of goal. Gaia, having been Lexa’s teammate forever, expected such a spectacle and when she saw the beginnings of the rainbow, she began backtracking to the goal. Clarke, one to never doubt Lexa and the moves she could pull out of thin air, had begun sneaking behind team Djibouti the same time Gaia began backtracking.

But without Raven having the time to react, it left Gaia in a 2v1 with team Australia. With no offsides rules applying in the World Cup, Lexa easily passed it to Clarke who was running behind Gaia. Expecting as much, Gaia drop stepped to recover and apply pressure to Clarke. Clarke also expected that and one-touched the ball back to Lexa who had run forward after passing it to Clarke. Receiving the ball back and completing the give-and-go, Lexa took the ball forward to goal.

Wells approached her as well, arms out and low, antsy to make a save. Clarke had learned a lot of her technical serves and shots from Lexa, so it was no surprise that Lexa hit the ball with the outside of her right foot, sending it the left. Because of the area of the foot she hit the ball with, the ball curved back to the right after it passed Wells, evading his hands and finding its way into the back of the net as Lexa shouted, “Australia!”

Abby’s mouth dropped open in amazement. Holy **_shit_**. Not only was the move to escape a hopeless situation perfect but the finish was truly World Cup worthy. As the two came off the field, Raven spoke what everyone was thinking, “That was some premiere level shit. Beautiful!”

Clarke was gushing to Lexa about the move and the shot and the girl was blushing up a storm. Abby gave her a smile, telling her, “That was incredible, Lexa. Don’t be bashful, fucking own it.”

Both girls laughed at their coach’s words before Lexa thanked her. As they continued off the field, Marcus told Abby, “Language, Coach.”

“Oh quiet,” Abby replied, shoving his arm away as he tossed another ball in, sending the ball askew. He immediately grabbed the offending hand, trapping her in his grasp. A dangerous glint of mischief sparkled in his eyes as she added, “You wouldn’t want me any other way.”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“Plus,” Abby egged on, “you didn’t yell at Raven for her language.”

“I can’t get Murphy to stop swearing,” he retorted. “What makes you think I’d be successful with her?”

Before Abby could reply, a ball came flying past her, nailing Marcus where the sun didn’t shine. He let go of her, immediately bending over in pain. “Shit,” the two heard none other than the girl they were just discussing say. “Sorry, Coach! But maybe next time instead of flirting on the sideline, you should be aware of your surroundings!”

A chorus of laughter from the kids made him groan in response as he struggled to stand back up. He mumbled under his breath, “Damn it,” as he finally stood up straight, barely able to stay in that posture for long.

Taking her chance, Abby grabbed the next ball to throw in, nonchalantly saying, “Language, Coach.”

He groaned in response, copying her movements from before as she went to toss the ball in. He quickly reached his arm out, knocking her elbow at the last moment the ball was leaving her hand. His hit was much more precise, causing the ball to drop only a few yards in front of Wells and right to the area Raven was occupying.

Noticing what happened the same moment Raven’s eyes lit up as if she found gold, Abby said, “Shit,” the same time Raven yelled, “Djibouti!” as she kicked a shot.

At such close range, Wells didn’t stand a chance. He preferred to not lose any teeth as he blocked his face as the ball came flying towards him, trying to also stop it as it hurled towards him. Luckily and unluckily for him, it zipped right by his face and into the back of the net.

“Dad!”

“Marcus!”

Still in a bit of pain, Marcus rose only one of his hands in his defense against the accusations, the other resting on his hip as he tried to regain his composure. He tried to defend himself, saying, “That was not planned.”

“And it just so happened to fall in front of your team?” Abby pressed further, not buying it. In the back of her mind, Murphy’s infamous motto was ringing through her head.

“That was luck,” Marcus replied, standing a bit straighter now. “Either that or its just fate to use my pennies.”

Knowing actions speak louder than words, Abby grabbed a ball and threateningly lifted it towards him. Marcus flinched away, hands automatically covering the recently injured area. As the two Djibouti players walked off in celebration, Octavia walked off towards her father, pouting. He looked from Abby to her, smiling apologetically.

He offered to her, “After practice, how about I buy you whatever ice cream you want to make up for it?”

She thoughtfully regarded his offer and asked, “ _Any_ ice cream I want?”

“No money limit,” he tacked on, raising an eyebrow with a grin.

She was silent for a moment before smiling big and said, “Deal!”

He smiled bigger as she ran off towards where the others who were eliminated were seated. Finally feeling better and seeing the offending ball resting on Abby’s hip rather than aimed at him, he regained a normal posture. Abby regarded him with suspicion, asking, “I know I’m going to win, but you’re giving up already?”

“Oh no,” Marcus reassured her, snatching the ball from her grasp, “you’re going to be the one buying me _and_ her ice cream after _you_ lose. That way, you can hold up your end of the bet and fix the problem you caused.”

Ignoring the statement about her losing, because she refused to believe it, she asked, “The problem I caused? You hit my arm!”

“And you hit mine first,” he replied, watching as the last two remaining teams returned to the grid. “I had to finish what you started. Can’t give you false hope from winning that small scuffle that would result in you having false hope in winning the World Cup.”

Abby didn’t have false hope about winning the World Cup, she knew she was going to win it. Letting Marcus wallow is his own false hope, Abby addressed the two teams left, “Welcome to the championship of the World Cup! One goal will determine who will reign as world champions. Will it be Australia or Djibouti?”

“Djibouti!”

“Australia!”

Spinning the ball in his hand, Marcus smiled at their enthusiasm. He told them, “You can be aware of the smallest details in the game, you can have the best partner who you trust everything with; however,” he caught the ball in both hands, the noise capturing everyone’s attention, “if you don’t have control of the ball, then you won’t succeed. If you have that, then you’ll have the world at your feet.”

So goddamn corny. Even though Abby was impressed by his little speech, she wasn’t surprised. Like the kids had improved in certain areas or gained new abilities, Marcus had taken up motivational speaking. He came up with great half-time pep talks and one-liners that would be remembered in history if he had coached the national team and not a team in Arkadia’s rec league.

“Okay Shakespeare, throw the ball in!”

And Raven always shot him down. Visibly deflating, he shook his head, mumbling, “She can never let me have my moment,” before tossing the ball in.

This was it. This was the final round. One goal would determine if Abby would go bankrupt due to Octavia’s obsession with ice cream toppings or have enough money to pay the cable bill later; one goal would determine if the kids got to wear real pennies or rags for the next drill. Abby knew she was being ridiculous for being so nervous about the outcome of the World Cup, but there _was_ a lot at stake.

Marcus had thrown the ball right in the middle of the four kids, making it a fair grab. Both the Grounders took off after the ball as Raven sauntered towards the goal and Clarke stayed off to the side. The two Grounders reached the ball at the same time and immediately tried to overpower the other. Since both were so technical with their feet, they couldn’t outsmart the other. Since they were teammates, they knew each other inside and out.

A minute passed between the two exchanging the ball back and forth with no progress made for either. Raven was inching her way away from the goal, waiting in case the ball squirmed lose. Clarke was mimicking her movements on the other side of the Grounders.

Another minute passed with the ball pretending to slip through the two, causing the two on the outside to react and spring forward, only for Gaia to recover it and for Lexa to immediately apply pressure. Abby crossed her arms and said, “We’ll be here all night since we have unlimited stoppage time.”

Marcus chuckled at her reference before picking up another ball. He lifted it above his head and said, “Then let’s speed things up,” before tossing it towards the four.

It bounced right behind Lexa and over the two, rolling behind Gaia. The sudden movement had scared all four, their attention suddenly diverting to the newly added ball. Clarke and Raven made eye contact for a split second before both raced off to get it. Lexa tried to use the distraction to her advantage and tackled Gaia hard, but Gaia quickly refocused and stood her ground.

Raven and Clarke both reached the ball at the same time, creating a similar scenario to Lexa and Gaia. Clarke had the upper hand though as she got control of the ball and slowly began creeping Raven back towards the goal as she defended her. Slowly but surely, the two made progress towards the goal while the other two stayed stationary.

Raven became aware of her situation and quickly tried to figure out a way to gain control of it. They were making their way towards the Grounders when a lightbulb went off in her head. Turning her body, Raven forced Clarke to dribble more central and towards where the Grounders battled.

As they inched towards the other two, Raven kept checking her shoulder to see where Wells was. Clarke tried a few times to cut the other way, away from the Grounders, but Raven wouldn’t let her switch it over. Unsure, she advanced forward as Raven kept giving her the space. When they about to come up on the two and were just barely behind them, Raven plunged herself into a wild tackle, surprising the hell out of Clarke. Unprepared for the tackle, Clarke braced for impact.

Raven ran through the ball, smacking it against Clarke’s shin guards. She immediately moved to avoid being hit by the ball on its bounce back. As the ball hit off Clarke, it flew towards where Gaia stood due to the angle Raven had set Clarke up in. Not expecting the second ball, Gaia had no time to react like Clarke and had to brace for impact. The ball also hit off her shin guards and went straight forward towards Lexa and the ball she held in front of her.

Lexa braced for impact but Raven’s original ball never hit her. After it hit Gaia, it went forward and hit the ball in front of her. Don’t ask Abby to explain the physics behind it, because the only way the ball traveled the way it did was because of magic. Once it hit the other ball, Raven’s ball caught back spin and spun away from the Grounders. As it came down besides and a bit behind the two, Raven was running up to it.

After she moved to avoid getting hit with the ball once it hit off Clarke, she was one her toes in the open space, waiting for the ball to land behind where she was originally defending. The ball came down and bounced once, giving Raven enough time to catch up to it. As it came back down to bounce off the ground again, Raven threw her foot forward, catching it in the air for a volley. As she made contact with the ball, she shouted, “Djibouti!”

If they thought Lexa’s shot was a beauty, Raven’s was goddamn breathtaking. That wasn’t an exaggeration either. Abby sucked in a breath as she watched the ball sail through the air. Raven had hit it hard enough to give it good speed, but she also got underneath it. In doing so, it arched up as it made its way towards the goal. But like all things on Earth (the one thing physics related Abby could explain), gravity began to pull it down.

The volley arched its way over Well’s jump and outstretched hands and began to drop as he fell back in a last attempt to stop it. The shot wasn’t going to be stopped as it glided right over his hands and fell into the back of the net. As he hit the floor and the ball rolled to a stop in the net, Raven landed back on her feet from taking the shot.

Everyone was silent. Marcus was awestruck as he looked from Raven to the ball and back to her. She was breathing a bit hard from the exertion she put into that play but offered him a huge grin when their eyes met. Abby was frozen in place as Raven lifted her arms in the air and threw her head back, screaming, “CHAMPIONS BABY!”

Her yell broke everyone out of their trance and Gaia joined in her celebration, tackling her in a hug. Gaia spoke Abby’s mind when saying, “Now, _that_ was premiere level shit.”

Raven laughed as she looked over to Lexa. Lexa was looking at the ball she and Gaia were fighting over, as it had rolled off the other side when the winning ball had collided with it. She seemed to be trying to figure out the physics behind the goal but came up blank as she threw her hands in the air. Raven turned back to Gaia and corrected her, “That was Delinquent level shit.”

Gaia laughed and wrapped her arm around the goal scorer and pulled her close as they paraded off the field. Abby was still struck with silence as she processed what just happened. What the _hell_ just happened? _How_ the hell did that happen?

Bellamy spoke her mind too when he asked it aloud for the third time that night, “ ** _How_** did that happen?!”

Having heard him, Raven turned her attention to her co-captain. She said, “I followed Shakespeare’s little speech. I became aware of the situation I was in, I knew my teammate could handle my crazy-ass tactics, and I decided to take control of both balls.” Flipping her ponytail over her shoulder, she lowered her voice to terribly match Marcus’, adding on, “If you have that, then you’ll have the world at your feet.”

As soon as the last word left her lips, a ball passed through her legs and landed at the feet of Bellamy. Looking down and then behind her, she saw the coach she was mocking, a smirk adorning his features. She smiled innocently at him, proclaiming, “You can nutmeg me all you want, doesn’t change the fact that I’m a world champion!”

He laughed at her and patted her on the head, saying, “See what happens when you follow my lessons? You _win_.”

That snapped Abby out her trance finally and she looked over to the little group. As if he knew she was going to look at him after those words, he had a smirk in wait for her. The alarms went off in her head again as did the realization that she lost. **_DAMN HIM!_**

Swallowing her pride, she walked over to the congregating group. She told the two girls that had won, “Congrats ladies. Raven, that was a hell of a damn shot, a banger if you will. Monty, if you have the time, I would love to read a paper on how that whole play followed the law of physics.”

The kids broke out in laughter as the look on Monty’s face revealed he was already thinking it through. She smiled, glad to see the kids having fun, because in the end, that’s what was most important—behind winning over Marcus of course, but having fun was always number one.

She asked the group, “Everyone enjoy the World Cup?”

She heard a chorus of approval from the crowd and it only made her smile bigger. After they quieted down, she told them, “Hopefully you’re all amped up after that because now we have the veteran game to play.”

“Sharks and minnows!” Octavia yelled, beaming from the opposite side of the circle.

“Yup!” Abby sent her a secret smile, appreciating how much she still loved it two years later. “Grab some water, stretch a bit more if you were out for a while, and get ready for the game!”

“Raven, you can start as the shark since you scored the winning goal,” Marcus told her as the group began to disperse. “Come help get the pennies with us.”

Raven nodded and detached herself from Gaia. She pointed two fingers at her eyes and then turned them on Gaia, telling her, “I know we’re World Champions, but it’s every minnow for themselves in this game. And you hun, are shark bait.”

Gaia rolled her eyes at her comparison and smacked her hand away. “We’ll see when I nutmeg you in the first round,” she shot back as she went off to grab water.

Raven smirked to herself as she followed the two coaches over to the bench where the equipment bags were set up. When they reached the bench, Abby felt a pit in her stomach as Marcus picked up his penny bag. Raven eyed it, asking, “Did Coach Griffin lose a bet?”

Marcus smiled big as Abby frowned. He looked over to Abby, grinning more, and nodded to Raven. He told her, “The lucky prize is getting to use my pennies for practice.”

“Drill,” Abby immediately corrected. “One drill is all we use them for. That was the deal.” Seeing the bag was already messing with her and she was mentally preparing for having to use them for twenty minutes. Abby wouldn’t be able to last (Marcus either by the time Abby got ahold of him) a full practice using the penny wannabes.

He shook his head, only saying, “Party pooper,” before grabbing the cones and walking off to set up the grid for sharks and minnows.

Snatching the penny bag he left behind, she felt her stomach drop as she opened it. Looking over the open bag, Abby asked Raven, “How much do I have to pay you to toss this in the parking lot or in the road?”

Raising an eyebrow at her coach, Raven asked, “How much is the lottery at right now?”

Abby frowned, a bit confused. “Almost half a million dollars. Why?”

“That much.”

Raven would _thrive_ as a business woman or sales person. Shaking her head as Raven smiled innocently over to her, Abby asked, “What color do you want to wear?”

“What are the options?” Raven asked, peering inside with Abby.

Abby shifted the “pennies” around slightly, listing them off, “Blue, red, yellow, and green.”

“Ugh, not yellow,” Raven immediately dismissed. “I don’t think there’s enough green either, so we can drop that too. What color do you think brings out my eyes more?”

Abby froze mid-search and looked up from the bag to the girl, giving her a pointed look. Raven was smiling brightly at her coach, batting her eyelashes. “Look good, play good, am I right, Coach?” Raven pressed further.

Deciding to play along, she answered, “Red,” as she discarded the three other colors out of the bag and onto the ground.

When only red was finally left, she pulled out one and tossed it over to Raven before dropping the bag on the floor. Raven caught the penny and looked at it, frowning. Noticing that she didn’t put it on right away, Abby asked, “What? I know they’re terrible, but a bet is a bet.”

“This one doesn’t fit me,” she told her. “I tried to wear it two years ago and almost got suffocated. I can only imagine trying to fit in it now.”

“Okay,” Abby said as she picked the penny bag back up and dug another out and handed it to her. Raven dropped the first one on the ground and took the new one. “Better?”

Raven examined it and shook her head, saying, “This one choked your daughter the second practice we had together as the Delinquents. I’m not taking my chances.” She tossed it on the ground with the other red penny.

Abby pulled another out and tossed it to her. Already knowing she was going to create an absurd reason for not being able to wear it, she put her hand back in the bag to grab another. Raven caught it and looked at it, eyebrows raised high. She held it up and asked, “ _This_ is a _penny_?”

Abby asks herself that every time she pulls one out, Raven. She knows the feeling.

Without another word, Raven tossed it far away from the other pennies and held her hand out for a new one. This went on for a while. Every red penny that Abby pulled out and gave to her, Raven found an excuse to not wear it. As a small pile of red pennies began to form on the ground and Raven tossed her latest rejection on the floor, Abby told her as she dug around the bag, searching for another, “You know Raven, I don’t want you to wear them either but you _do_ have to wear one, so just—”

Abby stopped midsentence as her fingers brushed against something that definitely wasn’t a penny. Raven had her hand held out to Abby, fingers curling, expecting a penny. She looked away from where Marcus was finishing up the grid and to where Abby stood, hand frozen at the bottom of the bag. She raised an eyebrow at her, asking, “What?”

Abby didn’t answer, her attention solely focused on the foreign object in the penny bag. Her fingertips brushed up against the object once again, feeling the velvet texture. The alarms from before began to ring in the back of her mind, and as much as she tried to ignore them, they got louder as her hand opened to capture the small object in her hand. As her hand wrapped around it, the velvet sent small sparks up her arm as she pulled her hand out, object enclosed for the most part in her fist.

Heart beating fast, Abby opened her hand and looked down at the object. Sitting inside her palm was a small, black velvet box. The alarms were blaring now as Raven looked closer at the object. “That’s not a penny,” she commented.

No shit, thank you, Captain Obvious.

Too focused on the black box, Abby barely noted the excited tone in Raven’s voice. She also barely managed to see Raven sneak out of the picture and ran off with all the red pennies. Confusion etching its way onto her face and body language, she turned to try and stop her, but when she turned to face the field, Marcus was standing there, a small smile on his face.

She looked to him and then to the small black box. Holding it up a bit, she asked him, “Marcus, what is this?” She would be lying if she said she wasn’t afraid of his answer.

Marcus’ eyes traveled to the black box before he remade eye contact with her. Keeping eye contact, he slowly reached out and took the black box from her. He kept the box visible to her and held the eye contact for tad bit longer, causing her heartrate to pick up. He only broke it to look down at the black box, stating, “Well, it definitely isn’t a penny.”

Thankful for the small piece of humor to break the tension a tad, Abby smiled. She said, “Raven said the same thing.”

He looked back to her and Abby’s heart skipped a beat and she sucked in a small breath. The way he was gazing at her…it was full of love, full of adoration, and full of happiness. Taking a step closer to her, he held it up, answering her initial question, “Let’s call it hope.”

“Hope?”

Marcus nodded and stepped closer, just a few feet from her. He looked into her eyes, none of the things in his eyes had faded in the matter of seconds. If anything, they were shining brighter. He smiled again, explaining, “Hope for us. For whatever the future may bring…I hope to have you by my side through it all.”

Oh. _Oh._ **_OH._**

Realization hit Abby like a strike of lightning. The penny bag she was holding the whole time fell from her grasp. She was frozen in place as her eyes traveled to the black box and then back up to his eyes. She felt goosebumps explode all over her body, sparks setting the nerves in her on fire.

He saw the realization dawn on her and he tried to calm her down, telling her, “I know we joked about it earlier, but I really meant it that everything we’ve been through, everything that’s happened, it all happened so we could get here to this moment. There is no one else I would’ve rather coached beside for the past two years and to continue to coach with for a third, and hopefully many more.”

Abby swallowed hard, smiling. She told him, “And I was serious when I said I believe that too. I could’ve done without the backstabbing though.”

Marcus cracked a sad smile. He wasn’t proud of that decision, and he never will be. He regrets it every day, and she knows it. She had forgiven him, but that didn’t mean she would let him forget. Oh no, she used it as blackmail—not even her proposal was safe.

Marcus continued on, “When we won that championship game, we told each other that coaching together was the best thing to happen to us. We knew at that moment that our Delinquents needed both of us to be successful; we knew we needed each other. Since that day, that need has only become stronger. I want you by my side, Abby. Forever.”

A small crowd of the kids had begun to form behind Marcus. Raven was smirking, high-fiving Octavia. Abby barely caught it out of the corner of her, but she instantly knew the two were involved with his scheme. She trained her eyes back on Marcus as he added on, “We officially started our journey together arguing over my pennies, I felt it was only fitting to ask you to start a new one with me over them again.”

That’s when he dropped onto one knee, Abby’s heart falling with him. It was coming, the big question was coming. Abby knew her answer, she had it ready on the tip of her tongue. Thinking it versus saying it was so different though. Once it was said out loud, there was no taking it back.

He smiled more up to her, the love in his eyes overtaking the other emotions that were swimming in his brown eyes. He said, “Abigail Griffin, you’re an amazing mother, coach, and more importantly, an amazing woman. The love you have for this team is inspirational, and no matter how many red cards Alie gives you, you never let it dull your love for the game. That dedication, passion, work ethic, and extravagant vocabulary is a part of the many things I love about you.”

Turning the black box so it was facing the right way, Marcus rested his fingers on top of the box. Abby had tears in her eyes at this point. Her heart was gushing with love for this man. Everything he loved about her, she loved about him, minus the extravagant vocabulary. She would replace that with his beard.

He let a deep breath out, tone shaking as he finished, “Abby. You are my best friend; you are the love of my life. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife as well?” He opened the box, revealing a stunning ring, and asked, “Will you marry me?”

Yes, yes, yes, _yes, yes, **yes!**_

None of that came out her mouth though. Her first reaction was to close her eyes, a tear running down her cheek. After a deep breath, she opened her eyes, hoping her love for him reflected in her own eyes as his did. She smiled big, telling him, “Yes, Marcus, yes.”

All the kids erupted in celebration, screaming and throwing the pennies like confetti. The parents on the sideline hollered their celebrations and clapped. Jaha looked up from his phone at the noise and looked around, asking, “Did I miss something?”

Marcus grinned brighter than Abby had ever seen. The last time she saw a grin that bright was when they defeated Mount Weather. The fact she was reserved the same smile made her heart swell even more.

Taking the ring from the box, he opened his free hand for her to place her left hand in. Gently taking ahold of it, he slid the ring on her ring finger easily. When he let it go, Abby felt her whole world shift. It wasn’t for the worst. She felt the future was bright; she was hopeful.

Standing up, Marcus held her hand up, gazing at her over the ring. It shone in the summer light, glittering his eyes with white specks, making him more beautiful. He told her, “I told the salesman I wanted the hardest diamond they had so it could represent you.”

Typical Marcus, moment almost shattered. She raised an eyebrow at him, asking, “Why? Cause I’m hard headed?”

His smile never faded as he pulled her in close by the now-accessorized hand. He let it drape over his shoulder as she brought the other up to meet the one hand, crossing them at the base of his neck. He shook his head and replied, “Stubborn.”

She laughed, unable to refute the claim. Marcus watched her laugh, his heart fluttering out of control. This ethereal woman was his fiancée, she was going to his wife, and she was going to be the light of his life until he died. Savoring every moment as her laughter died down, he wrapped his arms around her waist.

As her laughter faded, she leaned forward, resting her forehead against his. She whispered to him, “You’re my best friend too; you’re the love of my life. And even though you’re a pain in my ass, I also wouldn’t want anyone else stand by my side forever. You’re my light in the dark. Without you, I would have never discovered my passion for the game, or my extravagant vocabulary. Thank you for that.”

He nodded slightly, chucking slightly, careful not to break their contact. She smiled warmly at him, the effect traveling up to her eyes. She told him, voice cracking in happiness and a million other emotions, “I love you.”

“I love you,” he said back, leaning down to kiss his fiancée.

As their lips came together, the two felt the world come together. At that moment, it felt solidified. It felt right. Every puzzle piece was in place, none were missing, and the end picture was beautiful.

The only odd thing out of place was the soccer ball that traveled through Marcus’ legs and came to rest by Abby’s foot. Not breaking the kiss, she placed her foot on top of it, stopping it from traveling through hers.

“Got you, Coach Kane!” That was Raven—no surprise.

“But not Coach Grif…Kane?” That was Gaia, hesitation lacing her voice.

“Oh, this is going to get confusing.” And that was Raven, followed by a guffaw from the kids and parents.

Abby was aware of the situation—she just agreed to marry the love of her life. Abby had the best partner—it was her fiancé, who was currently kissing her with all the love he had. Abby had control of the ball—literally and metaphorically as she trapped the ball under her foot at her team’s practice.

According to her soon-to-be-husband, she had the world at her feet; therefore, she was a world champion.

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO PUMPKINS !!!!! It's been a hot minute, hasn't it ? It has been since I wrote in the k&s universe !!!
> 
> I have had this plot planned for a while, and I'm happy to finally write it and share it with you! I hope you love it as much I do.
> 
> The k&s universe will forever hold a special place in my heart, and yall are a huge reason for that. Thank you for all your support, it truly means the world!
> 
> As always, all the love!
> 
> Lindsay :)


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